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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29556600">Never Knew I Needed (ShuTaba Week: Day 6)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akumaku/pseuds/Akumaku'>Akumaku</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>ShuTaba Week 2021 [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Persona 5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Birthday, Birthday Presents, F/M, Fluff, Romance, Surprises</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 21:08:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,528</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29556600</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akumaku/pseuds/Akumaku</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Akira decides to text Futaba right at midnight on her birthday and reveals what he has planned for her. Of course, this causes Futaba to freak out and gush about what a lovable dork her boyfriend is.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Amamiya Ren &amp; Sakura Futaba, Amamiya Ren/Sakura Futaba, Kurusu Akira &amp; Sakura Futaba, Kurusu Akira/Sakura Futaba, Persona 5 Protagonist &amp; Sakura Futaba, Persona 5 Protagonist/Sakura Futaba</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>ShuTaba Week 2021 [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2161668</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Never Knew I Needed (ShuTaba Week: Day 6)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>HELLO YELLO! IT'S FUTABA'S BIRTHDAY!!!<br/>And of course, that comes with a ShuTaba story for her birthday for the week!</p><p>Day 1: Valentine's Day<br/>Day 2: Game Night<br/>Day 3: "Who Found Out First?"<br/>Day 4: Proposal<br/>Day 5: The Future<br/>Day 6: <strong>Futaba's B-Day</strong><br/>Day 7: Free Day</p><p>Hope you enjoy the story!~</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had just struck midnight in the Sakura household. The parental unit of the household and owner of the nearby Café LeBlanc was already fast asleep for the night, but not his adoptive genius of a daughter, Futaba Sakura. She couldn’t sleep at all, considering that her birthday was practically today, as it was now the 19th of February. She was quite antsy and excited for her celebration, wondering what her boyfriend’s plans were in terms of the celebration. One thing for sure was that the anticipation was holding her back from trying to be properly rested for the morning of.</p><p>If someone were to compare her to an owl, they would not be far from the truth. She usually stayed up into the late hours of the night in her room. Her sleeping schedule was quite a mess already, but it was absurdly worse before she met the Phantom Thieves. After her heart was stolen, in more ways than one, by Akira, when they were still roaming around Palaces, stealing corrupted hearts, she has made quite a significant process to improve herself, including her sleeping schedule. She would occasionally stay up drastically late, but nowadays, she would only stay up for a few hours, thanks to her self-improvement.</p><p>However, she has no idea what to do now. She considered playing one of her many games in her library to tire herself out, but she wasn’t exactly in the mood to do so. She was already a bit tired, so all she really needed was that final push to help her fall asleep. She eventually decided to shut everything down for the night and scroll through her phone until she eventually fell asleep. However, she got alerted by a ping on her phone via its IM app. She scrolled through her notifications to find a message sent from her boyfriend, right at midnight, that read:</p><p>
  <b>“HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST GIRLFRIEND IN THE WORLD!!!!!~~”</b>
</p><p>She chuckled at the thought of Akira being the first one to tell her happy birthday.</p><p>
  <b>F: someone sure was looking at the clock. u sent that as soon as it hit midnight :P </b>
</p><p>
  <b>A: Well of course! had to be the first to congratulate the new birthday girl~ </b>
</p><p>
  <b>F: Yeah I suppose u have a point. </b>
</p><p>
  <b>A: Suppose? &gt;_&gt; </b>
</p><p>
  <b>F: Yeah cuz u could have waited, but as the birthday queen, I hereby make u an exception.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>A: Thank you my liege.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>F: ON ONE CONDITION</b>
</p><p>
  <b>A: ??? </b>
</p><p>
  <b>F: u have to tell me what you have bought ur queen for her annual date of birth!~</b>
</p><p>
  <b>A: Should I really ruin the surprise like that?? </b>
</p><p>
  <b>F: I can still act like it's a surprise :3</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Ak: Fine Simba, but only because it IS 12 and because it's you &lt;3</b>
</p><p>“God, he’s always so good to me. I honestly can’t believe it was that easy to get through to him,” she snickered with a faint blush. It took Akira quite a bit to respond back to her text but the wait was entirely worth it in Futaba’s eyes. She couldn’t even begin to process what he got her after screaming: A very limited Neo Featherman set of all the Feathermen in a unique stand for them. </p><p>This absolutely left Futaba flabbergasted because it was an extremely rare item to find for Neo Featherman, and somehow her boyfriend managed to snag a set for her. She was dying from the adrenaline rush that she just instantly started mashing her response with her phone’s keyboard.</p><p>
  <b>F: KABKCHAKXHAMZSNJSBS</b>
</p><p>
  <b>F: LAKSJKNDUAGSYWS</b>
</p><p>
  <b>F: WHERE DID YOU GET THAT?? </b>
</p><p>
  <b>A: I visited a few shops in Shibuya. Kinda hard to find, but one store had a few of them :) </b>
</p><p>
  <b>F: JUST OMFG I LOVE YOU SO DAMN MUCH YOU HAVE NO IDEA &lt;3&lt;3</b>
</p><p>
  <b>A: Aaaaand that's not all.</b>
</p><p>“He bought me more?! How much money did he ha-” she exclaimed before being cut off by another text from Akira. She had every right to pause because of the next gift that she’s getting from him: a copy of Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury. </p><p>While it also surprised her greatly, she also knew that there was no way that Akira managed to know that she was looking forward to that. That is, unless… Sojiro told him. He was the only person that Futaba spoke to about wanting that game, so it had to be case.</p><p>
  <b>F: KBFKAHXJQHCDJWNS</b>
</p><p>
  <b>F: NO</b>
</p><p>
  <b>F: PICK UP THE PHONE I NEED TO GUSH AT U</b>
</p><p>With no hesitation, Futaba tapped the phone button right beside Akira’s name and immediately started calling him. He answered with a suave “Hello?” as soon as he picked up.</p><p>“YOU'VE BEEN TALKING TO DAD! I ONLY TOLD HIM ABOUT WANTING 3D WORLD!” she exclaimed. Thank god Sojiro was quite a heavy sleeper so that he didn’t have to be woken up by his daughter screaming at 12 in the morning.</p><p>“I might have~” Akira said while carrying the same suave tone from his messages to her. “We can play some tomorrow after we celebrate, okay? How does cake and fried chicken sound to you?</p><p>“Sounds great, but just....god,” Futaba said before pausing to take in everything that just happened. “thank you so much, Akira. You're just..amazing, you know? You always go all out for me, no matter what it is, and just...you're the best boyfriend someone like me could ask for. Thank you for… for being you.”</p><p>Once in a blue moon, Akira will get caught off guard by Futaba showing affection and start blushing as if his entire face became the sun. Such a situation occurred at this moment after hearing her words. Even if they weren’t face to face nor using Facetime, he could feel her genuine affection show with every word that she said.</p><p>“Hey, I wanted to go all out because you deserve it, 'Taba,” he said before taking a second to clear his throat, “You've been such a blessing in my life ever since we went to Akihabara for the first time. Even though our first visit wasn't the best, you overcame your fears. You even went there all by yourself later on and bought something to prove it. If that's not dedication to improve yourself, even after everything you've been through, I don't know what is.”</p><p>Futaba absolutely didn’t know how to respond. Even if she caused Akira’s face to burn up on accident, it’s as if Akira pulled out a Uno reverse card on her and instantly flipped who was the blushing victim. “Gaaaah you're making me blush over here…”</p><p>“I love you so much, Futaba. Forever and always.”</p><p>She was caught by surprise yet again. Although this time, she replied back, “I-I love you too, Akira. F-forever and always, as well!” As soon as she exclaimed her love for him, she instantly held her phone, as if to hug Akira through it. She wouldn’t have to wait too long to see him, since she would be coming over to the café several hours from now.</p><p>“Anyway, we should probably head to bed, especially you. Got a big day ahead of you tomorrow, birthday girl.”</p><p>“W-Wait! Um, I kinda wanna ask you a favor...”</p><p>“Yeah, what's up?” Akira asked, a confused tone to his voice.</p><p>“Can you maybe… uh.. .sing me to sleep?”</p><p>This caught Akira off-guard. He’s not usually the type of person to really sing, let alone sing for others like this. Nonetheless, he couldn’t really say to her. Besides, his mind thought that maybe his voice was soothing to her. “U-Um...sure, but where is this coming from?”</p><p>“It's been kinda hard for me to fall asleep so maybe listening to your voice will help.”</p><p>Right on the money. “Ah. Well, I'll see what I can do.” Akira had to think for a moment. The song in question would have to be a soothing song to begin with, and Akira had no songs in mind that he listens to.</p><p>Then he thought of something and cleared his throat.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>“For the way you changed my plans<br/>
For being the perfect distraction<br/>
For the way you took the idea that I have<br/>
Of everything that I wanted to have<br/>
And made me see there was something missing, oh yeah</p>
  <p>For the ending of my first begin,<br/>
And for the rare and unexpected friend,<br/>
For the way you're something that I'd never choose<br/>
But at the same time, something I don't wanna lose<br/>
And never wanna be without ever again</p>
  <p>You're the best thing I never knew I needed<br/>
So when you were here I had no idea<br/>
You the best thing I never knew I needed<br/>
So now it's so clear, I need you here always”</p>
</div><p>Akira’s singing was eventually cut off by a small yet subtle snore from the other end. From that one snore, he could already tell what happened: Futaba fell fast asleep, and his mission was accomplished. On the other end, she held her phone tightly again herself, as if she was imagining that he was right there with her. All Akira could respond to her snores with was a genuine smile.</p><p>“Night, birthday girl.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanking my best friend goroakechiswife (https://twitter.com/goroakechiswife) once again for editing my stories! She even made it way easier to read her notes along with editing stuff out, so major thumbs up for her ^^"</p><p>Thank YOU for reading as well! Kinda sad that there's only one more day left for the week, but all good things must come to an end eventually I suppose. I'm gonna try to go all out with my last story, but let's see what I can do~</p><p>Anyway, I hope that you have an amazing day and that you enjoyed the story! I'll see you in the final story for ShuTaba Week! Wear a mask!~</p></blockquote></div></div>
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